ANOTHER DAY MATCHING WITS WITH THE SQUIRRELS....AND THEY ARE OUTWITTING ME

It is quite the time I am having with these wiseguy squirrels!! Looking out the window first thing this morning I again saw a fat squirrel on the bird station vacuuming up bird seed.  I figured he must have followed the standard aerial route from the tall cedar tree to the top of the bird station.  Turns out, I was wrong.  A few hours later, a movement caught my eye out there and it was an airborne squirrel heading for the feeder.  But, he was not sky-diving in from high above.  The squirrel had leaped from a small tree to the left of the feeder.  I've seen many squirrels in that tree trying to figure out how to jump across to the feeder but none of them ever did.    Until this morning that is.  I shooed the squirrel off the feeder a couple more times and then watched closely to see which branch he was jumping from.  When I had that figured out it was off to the carport I went to gather up my pruning shears, my swede saw, and a step ladder.  Clip, clip, saw, saw, and I had a few branches down.  In the meantime, Mr. Ed, a longtime blog reader had suggested I put an inverted garbage can on top of the bird station, so this morning that is exactly what I did.  And, half an hour later I look out the window and there is a #!!%&**%!!!! squirrel on the bottom level of the bird station!!  I roared out the door in a big gaggling bluster and shooed him off.  Back inside I went and waited.......Sure enough, here comes the wiseguy again, and this time he goes up a small pine tree on the opposite side of the feeder, throws himself into the air, and lands on the lower deck of the feeder.  By this time I am about reduced to a blabbering mass of blubbering frustration.  But, I remembered that I had this very same problem before with that side of the feeder near the pine tree.  Not wanting to cut any more branches off the pine tree I go out to the carport again, get a piece of wood, and four wood screws.  With my battery-powered drill, I screwed that piece of board in place, came back into the house, and watched and waited all over again.  At the time of publishing this tonight, the bird station has been squirrel free:))  But then, there is also tomorrow already on its way:((  

LITTLE DID I KNOW EARLY THIS MORNING THAT I WOULD LATER END UP HAVING TO CUT SOME BRANCHES OFF THAT SMALL ORANGEY LEAF TREE ON THE LEFT

 AND IT WOULD ALL HAVE TO DO WITH THIS GUY AND HIS BUDDIES

 LOOK CLOSELY TO THE RIGHT AND YOU CAN SEE THE SQUIRREL LANDING ON THE BIRD STATION AFTER LEAPING FROM THE TREE ON THE EXTREME LEFT

I PLOPPED THIS GARBAGE CAN ON THE FEEDER AND PULLED IT TO THE SIDE WHERE THE SQUIRREL WAS LANDING ON THE FEEDER BUT AS YOU CAN SEE AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT HE DIDN'T LET THE GARBAGE CAN STOP HIM EITHER

THE TREE NEEDED SOME CUTTING BACK ANYWAY SO THAT'S WHAT I DID

I FIGURED I WAS ALL RIGHT NOW UNTIL I SAW ANOTHER SQUIRREL LEAP ONTO THE FEEDER FROM A PINE TREE BRANCH OFF TO THE RIGHT

 IF THIS DOESN'T WORK I WILL HAVE TO GET A BIGGER PIECE OF WOOD OR A PADDED CELL AT THE LOCAL LOONY BIN 

 IT WAS THE PINE TREE TO THE LEFT THAT THE SQUIRREL WAS JUMPING FROM

 SO, THIS IS NOW THINGS ARE LOOKING NOW.....STAY TUNED

 I HAD GONE OUT ONE DOOR AND COME BACK IN ANOTHER DOOR BUT PHEEBS DIDN'T HEAR ME COME IN AND SHE IS SITTING BY THE WINDOW PATIENTLY WAITING AND WATCHING FOR ME

If I thought Thursday morning was cold and windy, I hadn't met Friday morning yet.  Under overcast skies, Pheebs and I again slipped into Bayfield for a short drive around keeping an eye out for Christmas decorations.

 YEP, IT SURE LOOKS LIKE A MORNING COFFEE BREAK

 THESE POLE-WALKING LADIES DIDN'T LET A LITTLE COLD WEATHER SLOW THEM DONE

Kelly had taken the Subaru and headed to Goderich this morning to drop off some blood at the Dynacare Lab.  She plowed into a bit of snow on the road, the Subaru wiggled, then straightened itself right out.  Kelly said she didn't have to do a thing and had she been in her old front-wheel drive Pontiac Sunfire she could have been in a bit of trouble.  And that is the precise reason I insisted our next car be an AWD (All Wheel Drive) vehicle:))

 HEADING HOME

 YELLOW DOORS ALWAYS CATCH MY EYE

A number of our RVing friends are already basking in the Arizona sunshine and I must admit, I have trouble reading their posts and seeing all their great photos.  Looking at those deserts and mountains, and seeing folks walking amongst the big Saguaro cactus genuinely makes me homesick and I yearn to be there again to see the gorgeous sunrises, sunsets, and big starry night skies.  I'm grateful for the 13 winters we spent traveling the southwest but those 13 years have made me even more restless than ever.  Had we not ever been to the southwest I wouldn't know what we were missing but having been there I know exactly what we are missing.   Some people I suppose can just turn it off and get on with where they are now in their life but I seem to be struggling with that.  Every time I read someone's blog about the southwest and look at their photos, I just want to go out, hop into Scooter, and set a course, south by southwest.........            

BACK IN OUR BAYFIELD PINES PARK

 HEY THAT LOOKS LIKE OUR PLACE

 YES, THIS IS OUR PLACE ALRIGHT

This weekend it is the annual Christmas In Bayfield and I noticed a number of workmen around Bayfield's main street setting up for that.  It looks like it could be a cold blustery winter's day for the parade on Saturday.  Cold and blustery does not work for me so I won't be there to watch the parade.  I've never been big on parades anyway.  Well okay, maybe a long time ago I was........

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A Scottish atheist was spending a quiet day fishing in the lake when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat at least a hundred feet into the air. It then opened its mouth waiting below to swallow them both.  As the Scotsman sailed head over heels and started to fall towards the open jaws of the ferocious beast, he cried out, "Oh, my God! Help me!"  Suddenly, the scene froze in place and as the atheist hung in midair, a booming voice came out of the clouds and said, "I thought you didn't believe in Me!"  "God, come on, give me a break!" the man pleaded, "Just seconds ago I didn't believe in the Loch Ness monster either!"

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Some South Americans visited Italy, and the country's beauty made them cry. I think they were Venice wailin'.

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A JOLLY GOOD FOUR HOOF ROLE IN THE SNOW

 A SNOWY RURAL LANDSCAPE

A gentle snowfall had begun early Wednesday evening and continued on through the night.  Opening our curtains this morning I could see we had about five inches of new snow on the ground and the pine boughs were bent low under the weight.  Through the trees, the eastern horizon appeared bright and I was hopeful for sunny skies to highlight the new-fallen snow.  But, it wasn't to be and we spent the day under gray drab skies. 

 MY PRIORITY THIS MORNING WAS TO GET A PATH SHOVELLED TO THE BIRD FEEDERS

 THAT IS HOW MUCH SNOW FELL OVERNIGHT

Even before our Jeep ride this morning my first order of business was to get outside and fire up my snow shovel.  A path to the bird feeders had to be cleared as well a path to the carport, another down the driveway, one out past Scooter to the road, and another path for Pheebs over to her 'business' area.  Following that, we piled into the Jeep, and off we went.  Our walking road wasn't plowed so we slipped into 4-wheel drive and blazed a trail through the snow.  With an icy cold wind blowing, we didn't didn't stop for a walk and instead slipped around a few country roads enjoying the snowy cold white scenery.  

I WAS SURE GLAD I WASN'T ONE OF THESE GUYS WORKING OUTSIDE THIS MORNING

 TURNING ONTO OUR WALKING ROAD

 THIS ROAD IS NOT MAINTAINED IN THE WINTER SO THIS MIGHT BE OUR LAST TIME HERE THIS YEAR

 I THINK MY LITTLE PAL WAS DISAPPOINTED WE WERE NOT STOPPING FOR A WALK

 WE STOPPED TO TALK TO THESE  HORSES BUT WERE SURPRISED AT WHAT THE ONE IN THE FOREGROUND DID

 NO SOONER HAD WE STOPPED WHEN IT JUST FLOPPED DOWN ON THE GROUND 'KER-PLUNK'

 AND HAD ITSELF A JOLLY GOOD FOUR HOOF ROLL IN THE SNOW

 I'M SURE THIS FELLOW IS FEELING MUCH BETTER NOW:))

 BIG CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE FROM JUST A FEW SHORT WEEKS AGO EH

 THERE IS SNOW IN THEM THERE CLOUDS AHEAD

 AND AMIDST ALL THE GREY DRABNESS OF THE MORNING, I DID FIND A SPLASH OF COLOR

Home again, I grabbed the snow shovel and did the front and back decks plus the backyard paths to the burning barrel and sheds.  I don't mind snow shoveling too much.  I look at it as good exercise.  I've never cared much for exercising just for the sake of exercising but at least with snow shoveling, I not only gain some much-needed exercise but accomplish something useful at the same time.  And I like when that happens.   Half a dozen Wiseguys (squirrels) in the yard today but no high flyers as of yet have messed with my big water jug defense line atop the bird station.  Knowing those guys as well as I do, I'm sure it's only a question of time:((  And, not half an hour after typing that last sentence I heard a clunk in the front yard, looked up from my book, and there was a black squirrel quite happily sitting atop the bird station right alongside the big blue water jug up there.  He had obviously jumped from the tall cedar tree.  !!#%@**<<:@!!!!

OH WHAT A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP I HAVE WITH THESE GUYS

 PATHS TO THE WOODSHED AND THE BURNING BARREL

Judging from the 14-day weather forecast I wouldn't be surprised if the snow we have now will stay well into next year sometime.  It looks like we are going to have a cold and snowy weekend coming up too.  And maybe a cold and snowy winter as well.  Heard on the six o'clock news tonight that Buffalo New York could get as much as two and a half feet of snow in the next few days.  Yikes!! 

 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER

 DARK-EYED JUNCO

 COULD THIS BE A CALIFORNIA WREN??

 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

JUNCO

A strange phenomenon took place late this afternoon when suddenly a long peel of rumbling thunder rolled across our southern sky from west to east.  I was out topping up the bird feeders when I saw a flash followed by another rolling peel of thunder.  By the time I made it back into the house, it was pouring snow.  The already dark overcast sky had become even darker and so much so that our outside night lights came on.  This phenomenon is called, Thundersnow.  Ten minutes later the cloudy sky brightened and the rainy snow ended.  Twenty minutes after that it was snowing heavily again, but the thunder was gone.  Vewy Vewy Stwange:))   

 OUR BLUE NIGHT LIGHTS ON IN THE DAYTIME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Went to the doctor for my yearly physical. The nurse starts with certain basics.  How much do you weigh?' she asks. '135,' I say.  The nurse puts me on the scale. It turns out my weight is 180.  The nurse asks, 'Your height?' '5 feet 4",' I say.  The nurse checks and sees that I only measure 5'2".  She then takes my blood pressure and tells me it is very high. 'Of course it's high!' I scream, 'When I came in here I was tall and slender! Now I'm short and fat!'  She put me on Prozac.

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Two prison inmates were standing in the cafeteria line getting lunch...One inmate said to the other inmate, "When I was governor, the food was much better!"

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A hunchback comes home from work to see a wok on the table. He says to his wife, "Did you cook Chinese food tonight?" She says, "No, I just finished ironing your shirts."

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